The Republic of Rwanda
REPUBLIC OF RWANDA
April 2015
VISA INSTRUCTIONS MANUAL
Version 2
National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda P.O Box 6139 Kigali Rwanda www.statistics.gov.rw
Visa Instructions Manual
Version 2
April 2015
Recommended citation: National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR), Visa Instructions Manual, Version 2, 2015. The Republic of Rwanda
REPUBLIC OF RWANDA
1
NISR Visa Instruction Manual Version 2 PREFACE
Besides its mandated role as the prime producer of official statistics in
Rwanda, the National Institute of Statistics or Rwanda (NISR) is
entrusted with the coordination responsibilities of the entire National
Statistical System. This implies that NISR must keep track with any
data collection endeavors undertaken in the country, with the a im of
ensuring high quality statistics that will adequately serve their
purposes.
In order to realize this aspect of coordination, all survey undertakers
are requested to approach NISR two times: first in the design stage so
as to get NISR approval on the proposed survey procedures and
arrangement, second after preparation of the survey report to get the
approval for publishing the results.
The purpose of this Manual is twofold:
1- To remind survey undertakers of the procedures they need to
follow in order to acquire the visa to conduct a survey project,
2- To promote the awareness of survey managers as to the
organic law No. 45/2013 of 16/6/ /2013 that stipulates
several penalties for whoever fails to abide by it.
NISR is pleased to respond to any enquiries you may have in this
respect.
2
NISR Visa Instruction Manual Version 2 Contents
PREFACE 1
- Procedures of Visa application to conduct any statistical activity in Rwanda 3 1.1. Who should apply? 3 1.2. When to apply? 3 1.3. Where to submit the application? 4 1.4. Visa process 4 1.4.1. Preparatory Consultation 5 1.4.2. Applications Processing 5 1.4.3. Documents required for visa 6 1.4.4. Visa granting or denial 9 1.5. Monitoring of the Studies 9 1.6. Publication of results 10 1.7. What to do and not to do during any statistical activity 10
- Articles related to the organization of statistical activities 12
3
NISR Visa Instruction Manual Version 2
- Procedures of Visa application to conduct any statistical activity in Rwanda
A Visa" is a written authorization granted on request, by the
National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda to anyone wishing to
undertake a statis tical survey, stating that the methods to be
used are standards, and lead to the production of high quality
statistical data.
1.1. Who should apply?
Researchers, private individuals, state departments and Public
Institutions, Private Institutions, re search centers, consulting
firms, non -governmental organizations, either National or
International, who need to conduct any statistical survey at
national level or covering at least a whole province, must
request a prior approval of the National Institut e of Statistics of
Rwanda to conduct such statistical data collection activity.
Statistical activities must be carried out according to the
standards and methodologies agreed upon with the National
Institute of Statistics of Rwanda.
1.2. When to apply?
The application should be submitted at least two months before
the statistical data collection activity starts. However, the
4
NISR
Visa Instruction Manual
Version 2
researcher who apply should allow NISR extra time if his
application is very complex, because it could be possible that
the NISR needs to get clarifications and further information in
order to properly process the application and if necessary a face
to face meeting with the project manager.
In order to avoid any delay in application processing or the
survey activities, the clients should be familiar with the Visa
process that is uploaded at NISR website, by knowing exactly
what kind of documents and information to be submitted to the
NISR, and schedule their survey’s activities accordingly.
1.3.
Where to submit the application?
The application and required documents must be submitted at
the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda website
(www.statistics.gov.rw) with an official letter requesting for
visa approval.
1.4.
Visa process
The Visa process usually includes three steps: Preliminary consultation Application processing Visa issuance or denial
5
NISR Visa Instruction Manual Version 2
The process is d escribed below so that the potential clients can
be familiar with it.
1.4.1. Preparatory Consultation
The preliminary consultation is the contact that takes place
between clients and the NISR before submitting the request
officially.
This dialogue help s clients refining survey objectives and
determining the appropriate methodology to be followed.
1.4.2. Applications Processing
All the visa applications have to be submitted online through the
NISR website www.statistics.gov.rw by attaching all required
documents.
After reception of the request a response will be automatically
transmitted to the client online.
If the application does not contain all the required documents to conduct a statistical survey, or if it is not clear, the responsible person will contact the client by phone or Email in order to obtain the necessary information to process the request. If the responsible person is unable to obtain this information within seven days, the application is refused. During the application processi ng stage, the emphases will be made on the following points: 6
NISR
Visa Instruction Manual
Version 2
Availability of required documents;
Checking if the survey’s objectives are Clearly defined ;
Checking if the designed methodology is standard and
help to respond to the stated objectives;
Checking if the survey budget is adequate, the
questionnaire is relevant to survey objectives and the
period of field work is acceptable.
At the end of the application review, a report is sent to the
Director of the SMRP Unit who in turn informs the Director
General of the NISR for the final decision n
1.4.3. Documents required for visa
More specially, the documents to be submitted to the NISR for
visa request must clearly show:
- The objectives of the survey
- Survey Methodology indicating the following key points
explained in details:
Mention the source of the sampling frame to be used
for the sample selection The target population; The reference period Geographical coverage
7
NISR Visa Instruction Manual Version 2 Sample distribution showing the area to be covered (the list of selected provinces, districts, sectors, cells and villages must be provided by showing clearly the corresponding number of households to be visited during the study).
Sample Selection: The sample size and its calculations The sampling methods used ( Formula) Methods for weights calculation (Formulas)
All the indicators to be measured must be listed and these should be in line with the questionnaire and the corresponding question numbers have to be mentioned for each indicator. To reduce errors of observation, all questionnaires must be translated into Kinyarwanda, unless the investigation is of interest to foreigners The training plan of interviewers and supervisors. Before starting the data collection, the training of enumerators must be done, in order to familiarize the interviewers on how to use the questionnaire and the instruction manual.
8
NISR Visa Instruction Manual Version 2 The fieldwork specifying the number of supervisors, enumerators and the number of days that the study will be undertaken should be mentioned.
Estimation and Analysis The researcher must also submit the plan of analysis (tabulation plan); It should show the formulas for calculating the precision of estimators (the calculation of sampling errors, the design effect ) The calendar and the detailed budget for all activities of the survey have to be specified. The curriculum vitae of the researchers must be attached on the documents to be submitted to NISR. Questionnaires translated into Kinyarwada, instruction manual for interviewers and supervisors for national level studies should be provided. Researcher should avoid collecting similar indicators in the same period with NISR surveys especially for national representative surveys. Qualitative survey may apply for survey visa ,but the findings shall not be disseminated as official statistics.
9
NISR Visa Instruction Manual Version 2
To ensure the quality of collected data, the NISR reserves the
right to verify whether the methodology, proposed by the
applicant and approved by NISR, is properly implemented, this
may require visits by NISR staff to the field and/or data
processing places.
In addition, the customised international standard classification
manuals (ISIC Rev 4, ISCO 08, ISCED 97) that NISR has
published must be used during the data processing stage to
improve the quality of data.
1.4.4. Visa granting or denial
After reviewing all submitted documents for visa request, the
Director of SMRP will recommend to the Director General of
NISR as to grant or deny the visa.kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
1.5. Monitoring of the Studies
Before starting the statistical activities i n any selected area, the
researchers have to inform the local activities in which they are
going to undertake.
After receiving the NISR visa, the researchers must report
periodically the progress of the study at NISR, this means the
activities of the train ing of enumerators, data collection, data
entry, data analysis and data dissemination.
10
NISR Visa Instruction Manual Version 2
1.6. Publication of results
The publication of quantitative survey results shall require a
prior approval of National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda.
The researcher is obliged to submit the survey’s report together
with the data set to NISR for publication approval. With
reference to the law stated below, none is allowed to publish the
survey’s report without NISR approval.
The submission of survey report and raw data should be done in
a period not exceeding 30 working days after the analysis part is
finished.
Note: Any researcher, who will not submit the report from the
quantitative study as agreed with NISR, shall not be granted any
other visa to undertake a new stu dy before the submi ssion of
the previous studies. This is applied for every round of the
survey.
1.7. What to do and not to do during any statistical
activity
In any statistical activity it is advised to use the probability
sampling which is a method that utilizes different form of
random selection , which can allow setting up some process or
11
NISR Visa Instruction Manual Version 2
procedure that assures to different units within a population, to
have equal probabilities of being chosen.
The use of such method s can allow a statistical inference which
is the process of drawing conclusions from data that are subject
to random variation . More substantially, the terms statistical
inference, statistical induction and inferential statistics are used
to describe systems of procedures that can be used to draw
conclusions from datasets arising from system s affected by
random variation.
The NISR as a public institution having in its attributions the
statistics activities has undertake different studies, from which
it hold several sampling frames, that should be taken as a
reference by any researcher wishing to conduct his research, for
that they are all asked to request at NISR, the available sampling
frame related to the research they need to undertake.
This would facilitate the researcher to use reliable sa mpling
frame which will help him to access the reliable data and at the
same time reducing the cost that would entail if the researcher
had undertake the research for the first time. Again it will avoid
the contradictions that may arise between this and th e
investigation undertaken by NISR.
12
NISR Visa Instruction Manual Version 2
On other hand f or researchers undertaking statistical activities
not covering at least whole province, the collected data must not
be generalized for the whole country.
2. Articles related to the organization of stat istical
activities
This organic law N° 45/2013 of June 16th, 2013 clearly show the
responsibility of NISR as a coordinating agency of all statistical
activities in Rwanda, and the responsibility of anyone or
institution who or which want to carry out a ny survey in
Rwanda.
Article 8:
The National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda shall be
responsible for the coordination of the national statistical
system.
The National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda shall be only
competent institution empowered to officially provide all users
with statistical data and information whether those it published
or those which have its visa, to improve the appropriate
methods for the conception, collection, processing, analysis,
storage, publication and dissemination of statistical information
for only statistical purposes and to confirm the timing and the
format of publication of such statistics.
13
NISR Visa Instruction Manual Version 2
Article 11:
Any person who wishes to conduct statistical surveys on a
national scale or covering at least the whole Provin ce or City of
Kigali and which fall beyond the usual activities of which they
are permitted to conduct, they shall obtain the prior approval of
the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda, whether on the
necessity of such surveys and methodologies that shall be used.
The questionnaires that will be used in such surveys shall bear
the official visa of the Institute.
Article 13:
Nationwide surveys, or surveys covering City of Kigali or a
whole Province conducted by ANY person that were not
provided for the national statistical program, shall require prior
approval of the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda with
respect to the necessity of their conduct and to the
methodologies that should be used.
The surveys are subject to authorisation at least two (2) months
before they are conducted. If it goes beyond one month without
response from the time of the request, it presumed as if the
National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda has accepted and they
shall begin to conduct the survey. If the Institute h as accepted,
the questionnaires bear the visa of the Institute.
14
NISR
Visa Instruction Manual
Version 2
Article 16:
All Institutions belonging to the national statistical system are
required to provide the entire basic database in their keeping to
the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda if it requests so
and the information related to individuals held by such
institutions which shall be accessible by the Institute. These
institutions shall at all times submit to the National Institute of
Statistics of Rwanda as an institute responsible for collecting all
the national statistical information, analysis reports of surveys
conducted, as well as other statistical reports which are
produced periodically.
The
National
Institute
of
Statistics
of
Rwanda
shall
confidentially utilize the information given to it as provided for
by this Law.